Stark and Drake
by Kurohana Hitsugi
Summary: What if Tony Stark meet a woman of similar intelligence and personality? Tony Stark and O.C.
1. Chapter 1

It was the Stark Annual Christmas Blowout, and it had begun (once again) with a bang. This time, instead of missiles, fireworks were set off, but the general effect was the same.

Tony Stark had been mingling for over an hour, and now he really needed a drink. The fact that his Personal Assistant Virginia "Pepper" Potts had apparent vanished into thin air was not helping his night either. Of course, he could have called her or activated the tracking device he'd installed in her blackberry, but this was a party, and also her night off. So Tony merely sauntered up to the bar and asked for "Scotch." After downing his drink in what might be considered record time, he began to work his way back towards where he knew Happy would be lurking. He was almost halfway there when he bumped into someone.

"Oh!" The other exclaimed, looking at Tony. Tony finally looked up to see his roadblock; a female in her late twenties to early thirties, with brown hair chopped into a haphazard pixie cut and a red blouse tucked into a knee-length pencil skirt.

"Hey, sorry." He said, stopping to look at her again. She was really quite pretty. Her skin was flawless, aside from a small scar near her hairline, and her legs were… Well, they were very, _very_ nice as well. And her shoes…

"Admiring them?" She asked, with a smirk. "I know it's not traditional in California, but I'd rather be able to walk than just sort of hobble around."

"They're very nice… erm, what do you call them?" He asked.

"Ballet flats. In some places, at least." She replied.

"Tony Stark." He said, offering his hand. She shook it, her grasp firmer than he'd have guessed.

"Dahlia Drake." She replied.

"So, Dahlia, you come here often?" Dahlia laughed at the corny pickup line, but ignored it.

"No, actually. I just got back to America, and damn is it nice to be home." She said, grinning.

"Where were you then?" Tony asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Not allowed to disclose that, at least not here." She replied. Even though she didn't wink, Tony felt as though she had. _Come on_, he thought, _that's just seeping with unsaid innuendo_.

Seeing the look on Tony's face, Dahlia gasped and mockingly hit him on the shoulder.

"No, I'm serious." She said. "Just gimmie a sec, I need to find my P.A. He's here somewhere." She reached down her blouse and pulled out a phone unlike any other Tony had ever seen. Which was shocking, since he had seen most of the world's phones.

"Locate Dory." She asked the phone. The phone flipped out, much in the manner of a T-Mobile Sidekick, Tony noted. Maybe a custom job?

"As you wish, Ms. Drake." An automated voice with a slight Irish accent replied, and a grid was projected slightly above the screen. Dahlia looked at the grid, which Tony now realized was the layout of the building they were standing in, and with a twist of her hand, turned the whole thing around so that she could see the glowing orange blip on the hologram. Using two fingers she zoomed in on it.

"Oh, so that puts him…" Dahlia trailed off, blushing slightly.

"Exactly 1 and a half feet behind you, Ms. Drake. Will that be all?" The automated voice said.

"Yes, Sebastian. Thanks." She flipped her phone back into the smaller, black rectangle it had been and put it down her blouse once again.

"Dory!" She said, turning and pulling a slightly flushed man of around 30 into the circle.

"Ms. Drake?" He asked, straightening himself up and smoothing down his brilliantly orange hair.

"Wow, you clean up good." She said, pulling on the lapels of Dory's suit with a sly grin, which widened as he coughed uncomfortably. "New suit?"

"Yes. It was a gift from you, actually. From 2 years ago." He said.

"Why haven't you worn it yet then?" She asked, moving even closer to him. By this point he was a brilliant shade of red, even his ears.

"W-well, the opportunity hadn't really presented itself yet, Ms. Drake." He replied, and she instantly moved backwards. Dory heaved a sigh of relief and loosened his tie.

"Oh, flirting with your P.A, could count as sexual harassment…" Tony said in a teasing tone.

"Well then you'd be in jail for so long they'd have to invent the elixir of life just to keep you alive for the whole time." Pepper said from behind Tony.

"Ah, Pepper!" He said, grinning warmly. "Pepper, this is Dahlia Drake and her somewhat unfortunately named assistant Dory."

"My name's not actually Dory." Dory said, speaking for the first time to Tony. "It's Jeremy Zeidae."

"Then why…?" Tony asked, curious.

"The common Dory is a fish in the Zeidae family." Dahlia explained, shrugging. "I've called him Dory forever. Just the same was I'm guessing your name isn't really Pepper."

"Virginia Potts, nice to meet you." Pepper said, shaking Dahlia's hand. Tony grinned.

"I can't believe you named your P.A after a fish." He chuckled again.

"_I can't believe you name your P.A after a _condiment." Dahlia mocked.


	2. Chapter 2

Even though the party was in full swing, the best and the brightest were sitting at a café about three blocks west.

"So tell me more about yourself." Tony asked, looking at Dahlia. It was odd, to him, for there to be someone, a woman nonetheless, that could seemingly keep up to him on any subject.

"Well, that's a first." Pepper said from a table over, where her and Dory were swapping stories and cookie bites.

"_That's_ incredibly creepy." Dahlia said, leaning over and pointing at the nearby apparent couple. "They could be siblings, yet check out how they're flirting."

"They can't hook up." Tony said. "I need Pepper 24/7."

"Don't worry, I need Dory just as much. No one's going to sneak in a steal your assistant away."

"But seriously." Tony said, changing the subject back. "Who are you, and what do you do?"

"Where should I begin?" Dahlia said, almost more to herself. "Well, can you hold on just one minute?" Tony nodded. Dahlia reached back inside her bra and pulled out her phone.

"Hey, busboy." Dahlia called over to the last employee. "I'll give you a hundred bucks if you leave." The kid nodded happily and quickly grabbed the bill out of her hand before dashing out of the door.

"Okay, Sebastian, let's go." She said. She stuck the phone to the glass window of the café, and instantly it was being projected upon to become a giant multi-touch screen.

"Good evening, Ms. Drake." The voice greeted her.

"Sebastian, do me a favor. Make this window appear one way, so that to the street it looks dark and the café looks deserted."

"Right away." There was a pause. "Finished."

"That's my boy. Okay, now I need a scan of all people within a 100-foot radius of this building, any with heaver equipment than a cell phone, note in yellow. All others in the standard red." Dahlia finished, and soon there were at least two hundred names with pictures flying onto the screen. Dahlia sorted through them carefully, tossing most of them into the trash until two remained.

"Okay, I know those guys. Ex marines, working for Dr. Michael White now. Give me a hologram of the area with only them and us on it. Us in blue, them in yellow." A 3 dimensional hologram appeared on the screen, and Dahlia pulled it off the wall and onto a nearby table.

"Enlarge, please." Dahlia asked. "I don't need downtown, or the movie theater, or the party, okay, so they're both upstairs. Can you soundproof the room?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Drake, but that is beyond my capabilities in this minimized form."

"Well, can't say you didn't try." She said. "Are they armed?"

"Yes."

"Heavily?"

"You could say that, yes."

"Are they mine?"

"Truth or a lie?"

"Truth."

"Yes."

"Damn it." Dahlia said, pulling her phone off the window and shoving it back down her shirt.

"What's wrong?" Dory asked, looking up at her.

"They're here, and we need to go somewhere else." Dahlia replied. "Tony, can we go to your house?"

"Uh…" Tony replied, still stunned from the presentation he'd just received. "Uh… I think I'm in love with you."

"That's great. Pepper?" Dahlia asked. Pepper, though just as shocked as Tony, was able to nod and say: "I'll get the car."


	3. Chapter 3

When they were all safe and secure at Tony's mansion, and Dahlia was sure that they weren't being listened to, they all crashed onto the couch.

"Well, that was…" Dory began.

"Intensely annoying?" Dahlia finished.

"I was going to say invigorating." Dory said. Dahlia shook her head.

"The only thing I find invigorating is a long shower under a freezing cold waterfall in the mountains of South America." She replied sarcastically. "That, and flying."

"Can you explain to me what just happened?" Pepper asked finally, sounding rather upset. Dahlia sighed and stood up, beginning to pace.

"Where do I begin?" She asked, suddenly sounding tired. "With tonight? When the guys began to follow us? Or a year and a half ago, when this all began? Or when I was 14, which is when the wheels of fate really started to turn?"

"Why don't you start by finally telling us what it is that you do?" Tony asked, sitting up higher on the couch.

"Oh. That's as good a place as any." She said. "I'm a weapons technician and designer." Tony jumped out of his seat.

"I knew it!" He cried. "Hahaha! They all say we have at least one doppelganger! And it just so happens that mine is a sexy woman!" He clapped his hands excitedly.

"Uh, okay then…" Dahlia said, sounding confused.

"Who do you work for?" Pepper asked.

"I'm the CEO of Drake Industries." She said. "So I suppose I'm self-employed."

"What does your company do?" Tony asked, now highly intrigued that he thought Dahlia might be his soul mate.

"Well, we used to make weaponry. We have collaborated with other companies many times to help innovate the weapons industry, but mainly we supplied the US military." Dahlia said.

"Used to?" Pepper asked, curious.

"Well, I had sort of a change of heart after nearly being killed by my own weaponry three times in a row." Dahlia said.

"That's not quite right." Dory said, speaking up for the first time since the discussion began. "What about the time in the lab?" Almost instinctively, Dahlia touched the scar near her hairline.

"What happened there?" Tony asked.

"I was making a scale, but working, model of a missile I was designing, and Dory leaned on the button, and it blew up, taking a chunk of me with it. I didn't have eyebrows for almost a month." She chuckled lightly.

"I didn't mean to." Dory threw in.

"Yeah, well, red buttons, be they big or not, usually mean do not touch." Dahlia said.

"So when did you almost get killed?" Pepper asked.

"I used to work for the CIA." Dahlia said, sitting down. "One night I was there late, working on my NOVA IV Missile."

"Oh my goodness, you're the genius behind the NOVA line?" Tony asked excitedly, sounding vaguely like a fan girl. "What was IV going to be?"

"A missile with smaller missiles that would detach, and upon contact would not only explode but send out mass amounts of cyanide gas. Instant death." Dahlia said, a spark in her eyes that Dory hadn't seen in a while.

"How would the firing army not be affected?" Tony asked, intrigued.

"There was going to be antidote in the MRE's." Dahlia replied. "They'd be unharmed, as long as they ate breakfast."

"Genius." Tony said.

"Anyways, I was walking by my superiors office when I heard that they were planning to use the NOVA IV to bomb Russia." Dahlia said. "This meant that my superior and who knows how many other agents were working independent of the CIA and the US government and military. I rushed home, but I suppose I must have dropped my I.D on the ground or something, because when exited the plane to California, I was rushed into a cab and taken to somewhere in the middle of the Mojave Desert."

"And what happened afterwards?" Tony asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. I think I was beaten up. My captors were Mohave people, so half the time I had no idea what they were saying. And then I was caught in the crossfire between them and someone else. I was hiding behind a car when a bullet pieced though it. The bullet grazed past me, but the metal shrapnel did not. It stuck in my, and would have killed me, if a very nice and very grateful Russian hadn't fixed me up with this." Dahlia began to unbutton her blouse, and Tony was almost visibly salivating. Until he saw that she was wearing and undershirt and a bra. But even so, the faint bluish glow of an arc reactor was visible.

"Unbelievable." Tony said. It was a tad smaller than his, and lower by about 3 millimeters, but it was an arc reactor.

"Yeah. The electromagnet was the Russian, the arc reactor is mine." Dahlia said. "And I know it's odd, but it can be miniaturized. It's really not all that hard. See, the core is—"

"Palladium." Tony finished. Dahlia nodded.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Because I've got one too." He said, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his glowing heart.

"This is way too weird." Pepper said, walking over to Dahlia. "You've got to be an imposter." And with that, Pepper pulled the arc reactor out of Dahlia's chest.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ung!" Dahlia grunted, stumbling backwards and clutching at the chair for support. "I _really_ need that back." Pepper stood in shock, looking at the hole in the girl's chest in the middle of her modified bra.

"Your vitals aren't normal, Ms. Drake." Her phone sounded.

"That's because I'm beginning to go into cardiac arrest." Dahlia said, her voice a little strained. "Can I have it back now?" A very frightened Pepper dropped the arc reactor into Dahlia's hand.

"Damn. I can't get a good angle." Dahlia said. "Dory. You have petite metrosexual hands. Come lend me one of them."

"How?" Dory asked, rather panicked. Dahlia glared at him.

"Just imagine I'm a phone jack, and that's the cord. Put it in right." Dahlia said. Dory grabbed the cord and began to put the cord back into the electromagnet—

"Neh!" Dahlia grunted as she was zapped back to life. "Oh thank god for Dory." She gave him a quick hug, then collapsed back into her chair, utterly exhausted.

"Vitals returning to normal, although adrenaline levels are higher than usual." Her phone commented.

"Yeah, yeah." Dahlia said, sticking her phone in what Tony could now see was a pocket in her undershirt as opposed to her bra.

"S-sorry…" Pepper said weakly, sitting on the couch.

"No corpse, no foul." Dahlia joked, cracking a grin.

"Does that happen often?" Tony asked.

"What. Do people randomly rip my heart out of my chest for no reason? In relationships, all the time." Dahlia said with another grin.

"Ah." Tony said with a grin of his own, and just like that, the tense atmosphere was gone.

"Oh—" Well, except for Dory, who had just fainted.

"That's my P.A." Dahlia said fondly, propping him up on the couch. "Hey, Stark—"

"Please, call me Tony." Tony asked.

"Tony then." Dahlia corrected herself. "Do you have a bed I can borrow?" Tony's mind was once again racing.

"No, not really." He said. "I've got the couch that Dory's on, Pepper's bed and my own."

"Couldn't I share a bed with someone?" Dahlia asked, and once again Tony felt as though the entire universe had winked.

"Well, besides the fact that I'm not certain you'd be okay with sharing a bed with your almost killer—"

"I'm so sorry." Pepper cut it. Dahlia just nodded and gave her a small smile.

"Pepper's really not that good at sleeping in close proximity to anyone." Tony finished, hoping that Dahlia would understand where this was going.

"Okay, so could I share your bed then?" Dahlia asked, her face switching from pretty to sexy in 0.3 seconds. At least in Tony's mind.

"I wouldn't object to that." He replied with his classic playboy smirk.

"You know all we'll be doing is sleeping, right?" Dahlia said. Tony grinned.

"Sure, whatever." He watched as she stripped down to her undershirt and a pair of boxer-style underwear.

"That's odd, even Pepper wears panties." He remarked. Dahlia threw him a quick glare.

"I just find these more comfortable." She replied, climbing into bed. Tony was soon in only his boxers and lying beside her.

"You know why we could have an awesome relationship?" Tony whispered in her ear. Dahlia turned over to face him and found herself only a millimeter of two away from him.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because we aren't freaked out by the arc reactors." He replied. "Other girls are."

"Yeah, I've had similar misfortune." She said, grinning.

"Hey, can you answer a question for me?" He asked suddenly.

"What?"

"What's the 15th letter of the alphabet?"

"What?"

"Just answer the question."

"O—" And then he kissed her. It was quick and sweet, with none of the fire that Dahlia or Tony usually put into their sex life. And yet it still left Dahlia breathless. Most likely because she hadn't remembered to breathe.

There were a few moments of silence in which Tony looked at Dahlia from under his eyelashes (in a very sultry manner) and Dahlia just blushed. And then…

"Wha… What the hell was that?" Dahlia asked, incredulous and annoyed. Tony blinked at her, his dark brown eyes appearing puppy-dog like as he pouted.

"Just trying to have some fun." He whispered, his lips brushing against Dahlia's ear, causing her to shiver.

"I'm rolling over now." Dahlia said, still sounding rather annoyed.

"Well, sure, if you like it like that. I mean, I can make do—" Tony rambled, but was cut off by a glare from Dahlia. "Done. I'm done."

"You sure as hell better be." Dahlia said, wrapping the blankets up under her chin and rolling onto her side. What with how stressful the day had been, she was asleep in seconds. Tony, however, was not quite as fortunate.


	5. Chapter 5

When Tony finally woke up at 10:30 am, he looked over, expecting to find a pretty girl wearing nothing but her underclothes. Instead, he found a box of tools.

"Hey, Tony, how strongly would you object to allowing me to turn Jarvis off for a sec so I can boot Sebastian up?" Dahlia asked from the corner of the room. Tony looked over groggily. She was wearing a faded band t-shirt and a pair of loose fitting jeans now, with her hair pulled back into a small ponytail.

"Very." He replied. This must be a nightmare. Where was the sexy woman of last night, and who had left this technician in her place? Tony hadn't approved that. And he didn't like it.

"Righty then, I'm doing it." Dahlia said cheerfully. Tony groaned and rolled back over. "Okay, Jarvis, I need you to go offline."

"I'm sorry miss, I cannot comply to that. The entire house is run by me, and if I were to go offline—"

"I'll be booting Sebastian up in your place, just for the morning. I'm just used to working with him, and I can't go home yet. Please?" Dahlia asked.

"Fine. You have four hours." Jarvis said, and then the house feel silent as Jarvis went offline.

"Sebastian, you up?" Dahlia asked.

"For you? Always. How can I assist?" Her automated and Irish AI replied.

"Well, first off, how's my house doing?"

"The same as you left it, Ms. Drake."

"Any messages?"

"Yes, one from Jeremy Zeidae and one from Edward Markum. Shall I transmit either?"

"The one from Edward, please."

" 'Dahlia, can I meet you for dinner at 8 on Friday at that café you like? The one with the name like a laxative? Anyways, love ya babe.' "

"Damn." Tony said, rolling back over to face Dahlia. "Am I a dead man?"

"He's _not_ my boyfriend, no matter what he might think." Dahlia said, sounding rather disgruntled at the very thought. "He's my ex-boyfriend. Speaking of which… Sebastian, show me Dory."

"Confirming visual." Dory was upright, and dressed in a smart suit, with a pair of black dress trousers, a light purple shirt and a thin black tie.

"Okay, can you zoom a little?" Dahlia asked. Dory had bent over to grab a pen he'd apparently dropped, and Dahlia had zoomed the camera in on his butt. She licked her lips seductively.

"Okay, we're done with him." Dahlia said.

"And is there anything else I can help you with?" Sebastian asked. Dahlia held up her finger, the universal 'one-minute' gesture.

"Hey, Tony." Dahlia said, jumping onto the bed. Tony grunted and put a pillow over his face, which just caused Dahlia to stick her head under the pillow as well.

"Hey, Tony. Do you have a workshop, or a garage or something that I can borrow?" She asked, poking him lightly in the check with a nail-polish free finger.

"Yeah, but there's no way in hell you're using it. Not without me." Tony said, coming out from under the pillow to breathe.

"Okay, then come with me." She said.

"Fine." He said as he sat up. He stared at her more intently now. She had full lips, and cropped, brown hair of an identical shade to his. Her nose was a small ski slope, and her eyes were the deepest chocolate brown he'd ever seen. Besides his own, that is. She could've been his sister, which made the things he was feeling for her all the more wrong. And what's more, besides sharing his situation and intelligence, she seemed to share his personality. Flirting with her PA, building an accented AI system to help her, drinking… This was his kind of girl.


	6. Chapter 6

"This is the garage." He said. Dahlia walked around, looking at everything and anything.

"That's Dummy, that's Jarvis's main hardboard, and that's the robot that will soon be scrap metal." He pointing to the robots as he went. Dahlia was still quiet, obviously stunned by her superior. Or so he thought.

"It's smaller than mine." She remarked simply. Tony scowled. He had to earn her respect, even if it meant bringing out the big guns.

"Well how about this? Do you have one of these?" He asked, tapping on a panel in the wall that should open up the doors to the place where he kept his suits. But nothing happened.

"Oh, Sebastian, do whatever he's trying to do via Jarvis." Dahlia said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Tony gritted his teeth, but tried again. This time, the panels lifted up to reveal his first suit, the War Machine suit and his very own Iron Man suit.

"What do you think?" He asked, and Dahlia's jaw fell open.

"My god." She began. Tony smirked. He'd finally done it. "Can they fly?"

"Yes." He replied, still smirking his self-fulfilling smile.

"Wow. For a second I thought I might've one-upped you, but I guess not." Dahlia sighed.

"What are you talking—you have a suit, don't you?" Tony asked.

"Yeah."

"What does it look like?"

"Well, it's a bit smaller that yours." She said, as if trying to boost his ego. "Cause I'm smaller. And it's of a similar coloring to the one on the end. The red and gold one."

"Gold alloy and hot rod red." He replied, slightly dead inside now.

"Mine's Gold Alloy and Vermilion." She said. "So do you save people as well?"

Tony groaned inside. _As well?_

"Yeah. They call me Iron Man." He said, smirking again. As if she had a name to top that.

"Seriously, you got the good end of the stick. I got Iron Maiden." Dahlia laughed. "It's awful. Makes me feel like a dominatrix." Tony had to sit down and cross his legs at the reaction that mental image had caused.

"Not too bad, huh? Being a hero?" Tony asked. Dahlia shook her head.

"I'm not a hero. I'm not the hero type, clearly." She said. "I'm an ex-weapons designer who killed millions. I'm a serial killer, and a fugitive, along with a convict in the eyes of the CIA. That's… That's not who you want out there." She paused for a second to recollect her thoughts. "But hey, not many other people will."

Tony just looked at her. Once again he was in love with her. He loved every part of her, from the sarcastic, flirtatious beauty at the party to the sentimental and broken innocent of a minute ago. For a second he wondered if Pepper saw similar things in him, but the thought was dismissed.

"Well, I do." He said. Then he chuckled. "Had any odd or funny experiences in the suit?"

"Well, the first time I got the helmet on it got stuck in my hair. That's why I had to cut it all off." Dahlia said, tugging at the ends of her raggedy yet styling pixie cut.

"I once sat in the giant donut in the suit." He said. "I was drunk at the time, but still."

"Hungry now." Dahlia said. "You know what would hit the spot right now?" They looked at each other.

"Scotch." They replied in unison.


	7. Chapter 7

"I gotta pocket, gotta pocket full of sunshine, I've got a love and I know that it's all mine—" Dahlia warbled. Stripped down to her undershirt and panties, she was dancing around, her bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor.

"Do what you want but you're never gonna break me, sticks and stones are never gonna shake me—" Tony sung. If you can call anything that off-key singing.

They were both so incredibly drunk. It took a good deal to either one drunk, and yet there they were. Prancing around in their underwear while singing horribly to pop songs.

"Take me away!" The chorused, throwing their hands into the air. "A secret place! A sweet escape! Take me away—" And then they were dancing a modified tango. When Tony's foot somehow twisted out from under him and they both fell to the floor, laughing, it felt like the most fun they'd had in forever.

"My god, this is great." Dahlia slurred, grinning. "Dory would never allow this."

"Neither would… Pepper!" Tony said with a hiccup. They both burst out laughing.

"Okay, song change." Tony said, clapping his hands. "What'd you feel like dancing to?"

"I am not a whore." Dahlia said. Tony just laughed.

"Well you might be, by the end of tonight." He replied with a smirk.

"Nununo. I am not a whore by LMFAO." Dahlia replied to Jarvis, who had switched back online hours ago.

"As you wish, Ms. Drake." Soon the techno was pounding through the house, and as if on cue, a metal pole came up from the floor.

"I have no idea how to pole dance." Dahlia said. Tony grinned.

"But I do. I'll show you the ropes." He said, and launched into an incredibly complex routine that had Dahlia wishing she had had sex with him.

"Well I'm usually a quick learner." She replied. And so she was.

So this was what Pepper and Dory walked into not but 10 minutes later; two very drunk geniuses, stripped down to their underwear and attempting to pole dance.

"What on earth are you doing?" Dory exclaimed first, his ears turning red at the sight of Dahlia without pants.

"Dancing!" She yelled happily, twirling over to his and grabbing him by the tie. "Come on, Dory, dance with me!"

"I have similar sentiments." Pepper said, glaring at Tony. "What are you doing?" Tony grinned flirtatiously, sending a shiver up Pepper's spine.

"Come on, Pep, join in." He said. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and dragged her towards the dance floor.

"No, Ms. Drake you have to get to bed." Dory said, trying futilely to unwind Dahlia's arms. But as a woman who worked with tools, her arms were stronger than his.

"Don't be such a spoilsport." Dahlia said, moving in closer to Dory, who let out a small squeak as Dahlia's hand brushed against his butt.

"Mr. Stark, as much as I love your unpredictability, you have to get some sleep." Pepper said as her and Tony swayed from side to side.

"Aww, Pep, just let it go. We're all friends here." Tony said. He moved closer, so close that she could feel the scratchy hair of his beard against her check.

"Fine then, Tony. You have to go to sleep." Pepper said. Tony purred in her ear.

"That's more like it."

"If you get any redder you'll explode." Dahlia commented, her arms wrapped around Dory's neck.

"If you'd let me go I'd stop being red." Dory said rather crossly.

"Are you mad?" Dahlia asked, pouting at him. "Or are you turned on?" Dory's ears grew an even more brilliant shade of red, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed.

"A little bit of both, if you must know the honest answer." Dory said. "You need more clothes on."

"I think you need less." Dahlia said. She tugged at his tie, which gave him the opportunity to hoist her into his arms.

"Hey! No fair!" Dahlia whined. "You've got more natural upper-body strength!"

Pepper had had similar luck with Tony, and soon the two billionaires were both secured in Tony's bed.

"They're a handful, aren't they?" Pepper asked Dory. He nodded as he ran a hand through his strawberry blond curls.

"Yeah, but it's worth it." He grinned. And then, both of them knew that they'd found a friend.


	8. Chapter 8

"Neeeeeeeeeeeeeegh." Dahlia moaned, her head throbbing. "Where the hell do you keep the Advil?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Tony asked.

"Dory?" Dahlia called down the hallway. "I need Advil and the greasiest B.L.T you can whip up!"

"Gimmie a minute!" Dory called back. Dahlia crawled back into bed with Tony, who hadn't moved all morning.

"My head hurts." He said. "And your yelling isn't helping it any."

"Oh shut up." Dahlia said.

"Perhaps we should learn not to have wild, drunken dance parties anymore?" Jarvis asked.

"Jarvis, shut up." Both said at the same time.

"Okay, much better." Dahlia replied, wiping her lips of the grease from the bacon.

"You were right; the best cure is a greasy breakfast." Tony said.

"I'm always right." Dahlia said. Her grin seemed to have notably winded, Dory thought. It must be nice for her to have someone to relate to.

"All right, Mr. Stark." Pepper said. "You have a meeting at 1:30 with the investors."

"What time is it now?" Tony asked, running a hand through his hair.

"11:26." Pepper replied after looking at her watch.

"Okay, so I've got time." He said, standing and walking back to his room to get dressed.

"Speaking of which, Dory. What do I have coming up?" Dahlia asked, pulling her hair back up into a ponytail.

"You have a press conference at 12:00." Dory replied. Even if she'd been having fun, it was good to have her back.

"That's fine, I'll just need to move some… appointments." She paused, deep in thought. "Oh, shit!" And she was off, running down the hall and into Tony's room. There was a small scream, and then Dahlia ran out of his room with a yelled "sorry". Tony, who had just been naked seconds ago, peered round the corner for the whirlwind of a girl that had just flown by.

"Pepper? I need to borrow some clothing." Dahlia yelled as she came to a quick stop, only to slip along the wood floor.

"Sure. What's wrong?" Dahlia rummaged through Pepper's closet and picked out a deep blue blouse and a black pencil skirt, along with a pair of small heels.

"I skipped a date last night, with my ex-boyfriend." Dahlia said, yanking on the skirt. "He's bound to be freaking out, and I need to meet with him before the press conference, which is in half-an-hour."

"You can borrow a car." Pepper assured her.

"Thanks. I'll drop it by around 7."

"So why didn't you show up?" Edward asked for the billionth time. Dahlia groaned.

"For one, because I forgot." She said. "And second, because we aren't dating anymore!"

"So who were you having sex with this time?" Edward asked, his pride obviously hurt. Dahlia gasped, astounded.

"That you have the nerve to assume that I was having sex with someone is completely appalling!" Dahlia said furiously.

"So you weren't having sex?" Edward asked.

"No! I was just lying nearly-naked next to him—Dammit!" She exclaimed. Edward raised an eyebrow. "Tony Stark."

"Tony Sta—Seriously?" He asked. "That guy has more STD's than a homeless guy who used to be a porn star!" Dahlia wrinkled her nose at the image.

"I'd love to keep doing this, but I have a press conference in—" She looked at her watch. "Negative 15 minutes. Bye!" She jumped into the car that had been waiting at the curb with a very confused Happy inside.

Happy gave her a look when she slammed the car door and slumped against the seat.

"Rough time?" He asked. Dahlia gave a huff of annoyance.

"Very."


End file.
